Tales Untold
by GeminiEarthDragon
Summary: The stories of Berk you've never heard. Drabbles and Head Canons Ahoy. #11. Viking Subtlety. Scattered whispers began breaking out everywhere all at once, and Astrid suddenly found herself hoping that a Whispering Death would break through the floor and swallow her whole right that very second.
1. Lost and Found

**Lost and Found**

Fjola the Fierce was a small woman, but she had more than earned her name. She wasn't especially pretty in the traditional sense, but she was a spitfire of a shield maiden, stubborn and more vicious in battle then men five times her size, returning each time drenched in the blood of her enemies. And he had been absolutely smitten with her from the day she had first slammed a broken spear on his workbench and threatened to run him through with it if he didn't have it fixed within the hour, way back when he'd been nothing more than a fumbling apprentice.

The courtship process wasn't easy or safe, but he hadn't minded her threats of dismemberment or dodging axes and spears when he showed up at her house each morning at her doorstep trying to woo her. In time, her death threats lessened into annoyed grumbles, and she began not minding him as much. When he lost his arm battling the dragons, she was the first face he saw upon awakening, smacking him over and over again with a pillow and threatening to murder him herself if he ever scared her like that again.

They were married a few months later.

Never in his life did he think he could be as happy as he was in the years that followed. Fjola was hardly the perfect wife- she was still too violent, and every attempt she made at cooking was more likely to set their house on fire then a dragon raid- but she was determined and feisty and absolutely beautiful in his eyes. And it only got better when they found out she was pregnant, just a month after his best friend and chief had announced that his own wife was expecting.

He and Stoick had drunk themselves half blind celebrating, laughing as they dreamed of their future children. Of sons who would grow into strong, capable Vikings. He could train his to be a fine smithy, and they could bond over the forge as Stoick's trained and fought and became the next chief of the tribe. They imagined their children growing up as friends, practically siblings or maybe, if one of them had a daughter instead, perhaps someday their children would fall in love and join their families into one. It was a glorious time for him and though Fjola had grown even more dangerous in the mood swings brought on by her pregnancy, both of them eagerly awaited the day their child would finally come into their lives.

Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned.

Val had gone into labor dangerously early. After a long, terrifying three hours with the midwife, she gave birth to a boy so small that he could fit into the palm of Stoick's hand. The village whispered at the new of the child's coming, nervous and pitying towards their chief. Newborns that came too early rarely lived through their first months, and the hard life of the Viking made it unlikely the small child would survive long even if it made it through the dangers of coming into the world too soon. It was all too likely that Stoick would have to bury his first child before the child's first birthday.

This realization- that something like this could happen to a Viking couple as strong and hardened as Stoick and Val, left him feeling more than a little frightened about his own child's chances. Fjola kept up a brave front and tried to tell him that he was worrying over nothing, but he could tell it scared her too. But there was little either of them could do about Stoick's fragile newborn, or their own child, save for turning to the Gods in prayer. Every morning when he awake, and every night before bed and every hour in between, he prayed hard that his child would make it into the world unscathed.

Three months after the birth of Stoick's child, Fjola went into labor right at the time that was expected. When the midwife came out of the room to tell him his wife had died in labor, his entire world came down around him. It felt as though he'd lost all his senses, and he was only dimly aware of the healers working vigorously to keep his child alive. Their efforts were in vain though, and his son died only six hours after his birth.

As his wife and son were set aflame in the pyre, he couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to make the Gods hate him so much that they would so cruelly rob him of his wife and newborn son. The pain he'd felt at losing Fjola was a hundred times worse than losing a limb or being wounded in battle, and he was certain in that moment that he would never recover from it.

And he didn't. He learned to life with that pain and try and convince others-especially Stoick- that he was fine. He cracked jokes and worked the forge and day by day he got better at acting and soon enough they all believed it. But the loss still ate at him, every night when he returned to an empty bed, or any time he found hidden traces of Fjola or the baby they were supposed to have around their (His now, technically, but it would always be theirs) home. Some days it was harder to hide it then others, but he learned that keeping busy and not thinking helped a little, though it made Stoick worry from time to time.

Not that that was the biggest concern that Stoick had. The little, fragile thing that Val had given birth to, surprisingly, lived through its first month. And the year that followed. And several more after that. But despite proving to be either astonishingly lucky or more hardy then he appeared, the tiny baby was still far too small for his age, even at the age of four, and Stoick was starting to worry. A Viking chief was supposed to be strong and big and tough, and the boy was exactly none of those things. A little bitterly, Gobber couldn't help but wonder why the chief complained to him about these things. His son was small, but at least he was alive, and so was Val. That was a lot more then he could say.

Two years later, when Val was gone and Stoick was left helpless with a son who wasn't at all what he was expecting, he felt terrible for those uncharitable thoughts.

Stoick, the strong, brave Viking chief who always guided them through everything and protected the village with his life, was lost and terrified and completely clueless as to what to do with his son. And as time went on, he became more and more lost and desperate when everything he tried to make the boy a better Viking failed miserably. The child didn't have the strength to lift any weapons, or the nerve to hunt or the patience to fish. He held things with the wrong hand, and he tripped and stumbled everywhere, and he never listened and- at the tender age of six- had already started sassing Stoick something fierce. Night after night he played a sympathetic ear to Stoick's complains as the chief tried desperately to think of something to do with the boy. Then one day, he told the chief something he wasn't expecting.

"Why don't ya send him ta me in the forge?"

At first Stoick had been aghast at the suggestion. He himself was a little surprised he'd thrown it out too, after the fact. But when he stopped to think about it, he decided that he really wouldn't mind having Stoick's son as an apprentice. Even if the boy was clumsy and awkward and everything a Viking shouldn't be. A little company in the forge wouldn't be that bad, and if it would lessen the complaints Stoick had about his son, then that might help go a long way in easing the pain and bitterness he still felt over his own lost child.

A few weeks later, Stoick conceded and Hiccup was given to him to be trained as the Blacksmith's apprentice. To the Chief's surprise, this didn't end with the entire village going up in flames like he was expecting. This wasn't to say that Hiccup was a perfect apprentice from day one. He was always fumbling and dropping things or breaking something, but his master was patient and good-natured, and didn't mind if he had to go over something a hundred times before the small boy understood.

It wasn't long before he found that he appreciated the boy's presence in the forge, and the way it gave him someone to talk to and tell stories of his wild youth. He never told the boy about Fjola or his son, but everything else was an open topic for discussion. And unlike Stoick, he actually appreciated the boy's developing wit and humor. Then there came the day when Hiccup first presented him with a sword he'd crafted all on his own (A little clumsy in some places, but actually not a bad weapon and quite a bit better than his own first attempt) and he had felt a surge of pride that almost sent him to tears that he blamed on non-existent onions as he blubbered happily at Hiccup, who was thrilled that he'd done something right.

It was then that he truly realize what it would feel like to have a son.

It didn't matter to him that Hiccup was clumsy, or sarcastic or abnormally small. He didn't care if the boy used the wrong hand, or spent hours drawing and daydreaming and coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas, none of which really worked. Because to him, Hiccup didn't have to be strong, or fearless or perfect. When he looked at the boy he didn't want a Viking, or a Chief or even an apprentice. He just wanted to know what it felt like, even for a little while, to have a son of his own.

And even when he messed something up, Hiccup couldn't have made Gobber more proud if he tried.


	2. The Art of Marking Territory

**The Art of Marking Territory**

At first, it had been a little surprising.

Then it got annoying.

But now it was just really, _really_ pissing Astrid off.

"So? Did you see him?"

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago. He really is as cute as you said…"

"See? I told you!"

Astrid's teeth ground together as the two giggling airheads darted past her, no doubt back to the boats where the rest of their nomad tribe were staying. Neither girls noticed Astrid at all, nor the murderous looks she had given them as they walked by. The other Hairy Hooligans saw though, and nervously gave the small, lethal blonde a wider berth to avoid getting caught in a bloodbath.

Astrid wasn't known for having patience or empathy with anyone who managed to get on her bad side, after all, and most people had the good sense not to be around her when her mood got sour.

Unfortunately for Astrid, Ruffnut was decidedly NOT most people.

"Two more?" The female half of the Thorston twins snickered as she flung an arm around Astrid's shoulder, leaning down over the shorter blonde with a smirk. "What does that bring the total up to? Twelve?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Astrid snapped as she shrugged Ruffnut's arm off. She certainly wasn't going to tell her it was actually eighteen now. Not including the girls from their own village and several more from that boat load of refugees that her boyfriend had saved last month.

And she certainly wasn't worried or anything. Just mad.

Scowling at Ruffnut's bemused expression, Astrid stormed off in another direction, annoyance bubbling in her chest when the other blonde followed. Didn't Ruffnut have anything better to do then bother her all day?

_Probably not. _Astrid thought, reminding herself that this was Ruffnut she was talking about.

"I'm surprised you haven't snapped and killed any of them yet." Ruffnut commented, oblivious to how tempting the thought was to Astrid. "I mean, he is your boyfriend, after all."

And therein laid the problem.

Astrid loved Hiccup. Sure, he was far from the ideal Viking, but he had other characteristics about him that more than made up for that. He was brilliant and funny, so talking to him rarely got boring. He was modest and thoughtful, and respected her strength and her own intelligence. He was blindly- almost frustratingly- kind, befriending dragons and showing kindness to enemies who would kill him if their positions were reversed.

And he was growing up.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Astrid knew this. She had done quite a bit of growing herself, after all. But even though Astrid knew this, she had always figured Hiccup would stay the same, even as an adult. Still the same awkward, quirky brilliant un-Viking she had fallen for. And he was in a lot of ways. He still had his head in the clouds more often than not- both figuratively and literally- and he was still brilliant, quirky and while his hero status had given him some much-needed confidence, still awkward in a lot of ways. He was still an un-Viking.

Only now, he was an un-Viking who made heads turn and butterflies dance in the stomachs of the girls who saw him.

Astrid couldn't exactly pinpoint when it had happened. It was a little disorienting, to go from getting into a fistfight with Ragtounge the Wretched when the girl had sneered at her and said that Astrid was dating the least manly and most pitiful 'hero' in the history of Berk, to having girls sigh and gush about how lucky she was to have snagged a catch like Hiccup.

It was even more disorienting the day she really looked at Hiccup and realized how much he had changed. How he was taller than her now. How his shoulders had broadened and his jawline had become sharp and strong. How his eyes seemed to fit his face better, and it had become dangerously easy to get lost in them. How his beard was coming in, and his whiskers scratched pleasantly and tickled her face when she kissed his cheek. How the odd, tilted grin he would flash her when he was happy or excited had gone from being silly and sweet to something much more powerful, which threatened to bring her to her knees.

Astrid still wasn't sure if she liked all that. She wasn't at all sure what to do with this tall, handsome man who still talked and walked and laughed like the boy she had fallen in love with, but only bore a passing resemblance to the child who had once been an outcast and a pariah.

And she really didn't know what to do with the fact that other girls were looking at him now, too. Giggling over him, watching him, wanting him. As strange as this new Hiccup was to her now, Astrid didn't want to give him up. Especially to some two-bit hussies who couldn't see how amazing he was five years earlier and a foot and a half shorter.

Clenching her fists, Astrid glared at the trio of girls who were openly ogling her boyfriend, who was about ten feet away arguing with Tuffnut over something. She felt her anger peak into the murderous range when one of them eyed Hiccup's backside, obviously appreciative of how it looked in the odd leather armor Hiccup had designed for himself.

_Twenty one._

Tightening her grip on her axe, Astrid was about two seconds from marching over and murdering the girls in cold blood when suddenly an idea struck her.

A few feet behind Astrid, Ruffnut waited with bated breath for the show to start. She had a bet going on with her brother over how long the resident blonde time bomb would be able to keep her cool with all the girls on Berk hitting on Hiccup. If Astrid snapped today, then she'd be getting herself a brand new mace courtesy of her twin. And as an expert in pissing people off, Ruffnut knew Astrid was at her limit. Any second now, little miss perfect would go ballistic and-

-sheathe her axe?

Ruffnut stumbled and stopped walking for a moment to look at Astrid in confusion. Where were the merciless screams of rage as she tore her enemies limb from limb? Where was the hitting and the fighting and the glorious chaos of panic and disorder? Hell, where was Astrid? Because obviously, the blonde sashaying her hips as she approached Hiccup and Tuffnut was some kind of body snatcher or a shape shifter or something. Astrid was not the kind of girl who shared her toys with others. Ruffnut would know.

Curious, Ruffnut jogged to catch up to Astrid as she got closer to the boys, her confusion growing when Astrid made no attempt to get Hiccup to notice her.

"Oh come on, dude, can't you at least talk to your dad about it? It's a good idea!" Tuffnut cried out, drawing Ruffnut's attention away from Astrid and towards her brother.

"No. No it's not." Hiccup responded flatly. "In fact, it's a really, really bad ide-EEEEEEEE~!"

Ruffnut's jaw dropped. So did the jaws of the three girls who had been drooling over Hiccup. Tuffnut looked somewhere between surprised and amused as Hiccup stood there, turning a brilliant shade of red and looking a little like someone had just smacked him in the face with a fish.

"…Did you just squeak?" Tuffnut snickered. He hadn't seen what had happened to make Hiccup produce the noise, but he was clearly entertained as Hiccup's face burned brilliantly and he stuttered out denials. Ruffnut didn't pay either of them any mind, darting past to overtake Astrid and then turning to face the girl, shock and admiration warring on her face.

"Did you just do what I think you did? In public?" Ruffnut couldn't help but ask, though she had seen the entire thing for herself and already knew what the answer was. Astrid didn't respond, but she did look oddly smug as she swept past Ruffnut without a word. The female Thorston felt her respect for Astrid climb to new highs as she watched the other blonde walk away like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Sure it wasn't the bloodbath she wanted, but the look on Hiccup's face at getting publicly pinched in the butt by Astrid was totally worth losing her bet with Tuffnut.


	3. Burning Up

(This one was actually done via prompt on tumblr, with the sentence "I swear, the next time you catch it on fire, you are in so much trouble." If you guys want to send me prompts too, feel more than free.)

**Burning Up**

He could fix this. He could _totally_ fix this.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcraaaaaaaaap!" Hiccup mumbled as he tripped over rocks, twigs and his own two feet running at full tilt to the well, knocking over several larger Vikings on his way (Including a woman with a baby). Upon reaching his goal, Hiccup dropped the bucket down the opening and pulled it back up at record speed. He had to fix this. Otherwise he was dead. Worse than dead, actually. He'd be the first Viking in the entire history of Berk to be killed _twice_.

Water splashed all over Hiccup's tunic, fur and pants as he stumbled back to the mistake he was trying desperately to fix, leaving some embarrassing stains that were going to be awkward to explain later in the Great Hall. Rounding his last corner, Hiccup stopped short at the sight of his teacher dumping a large bucket of water on the out of control inferno that had once been his forge. As the flames hissed out of existence, the blacksmith turned to spear the now frozen Hiccup with an angry look, a rare sight on the face of the normally easy-going Gobber.

Aaaaaand here comes Death #1.

"What. Happened?" Gobber demanded, making Hiccup squirm awkwardly.

"Uh, hey Gobber…" Hiccup replied in a small voice. Looking down, Hiccup cringed as he finally noticed the stains on his pants. Snotlout and the twins were gonna have a field day teasing him later. "That was fast. How'd you get to the well and back before me?"

"I didn't." Gobber said flatly. "I've been stashin' buckets of water away in case this happened." Wow. That really spoke volumes in the confidence Gobber had in him. "You know you're not supposed ta use the forge without supervision, Hiccup. Ya could've set the whole village on fire."

"I didn't." Hiccup reminded him, a tad defensively.

"But you _could_ have." Gobber repeated, exasperated. Snatching the pail Hiccup still held in his hands, the older Viking gave a flat look at the inch of water that was still left after Hiccup's half-panicked trip back from the well, making the boy sink further into himself in embarrassment. "You probably would have, if I hadn't seen the smoke from my house. What were you thinkin', Hiccup?" Hiccup didn't answer, but his eyes flickered over to the deformed steel sitting on the forge. Frowning, Gobber turned his attention to the boy's latest project, expecting yet another half formed, bizzare toy that he couldn't make heads or tails of.

Instead, he found the melted remains of what looked like a sword, with the word 'Stoick' barely visible in the steel of the blade.

…Oh.

Belatedly remembering that his best friend's birthday was in less than a week, Gobber blinked at the would-be weapon a few times in surprise before turning back to his young apprentice. Hiccup's face glowed a brilliant shade of red under his freckles, threatening to finish the job the out of control forge had started and burn the Smithy to the ground. A smile threatened to make its way onto Gobber's face as he looked at the half soaked ten year old looking utterly humiliated at being caught making a birthday present for his father, but he forced it back with sheer Viking will.

"Yer not good enough yet ta be tacklin' project like this on yer own, Hiccup." Gobber said as sternly as he could, lifting the melted sword with a pair of thongs and setting it aside. "But luckily fer you, I can't be seen totin' around a useless Apprentice. Here, try again. This time, with me here ta stop ya when ya do somethin' wrong." Mumbling something under his breath, Hiccup nodded and grabbed his apron, privately relieved that the incident had ended without bloodshed. Particularly his. "And Hiccup?" Turning, the little Viking cringed a little at the stink-eye his mentor was giving him, "This forge is very important ta me. And ta the village. I swear, next time ya catch it on fire, you are in SO much trouble. We clear?"

"Crystal." Hiccup squeaked out, nodding.

"Good. Now let's get started on that sword, shall we?"


	4. Valhalla

**Valhalla**

Hiccup would never forget that night.

He was young then, so little that he just barely came over is father's knee, but big enough to get into all sorts of trouble if Stoick took his eyes off of him for more than a second. He'd gotten into trouble earlier that day when he snuck into the field to pet a baby sheep and left the gate unlocked, which lead to the village being forced to put their usual tasks on hold to herd the animals back into their proper place. That had gotten him sent to bed early even though he wasn't sleepy, one of Hiccup's most hated punishments (It was even worse than having to eat that nasty food his father insisted would make him big and strong).

He must've ended up falling asleep anyways, since a few hours later he woke up to urgent voices talking in the room below. Confused, Hiccup pulled himself out of bed, knowing that something was wrong even at his young age. As late as it was, there shouldn't be anyone in the house right now expect for him and his father, since his mother was on the boat that left to look for dragons and everyone else in the village was tucked away in their own beds. The only time anyone else ever came in the middle of the night was during Dragon attacks, but there was no yelling or panic like there usually was during one of those scary raids, just a bunch of deep voices talking low and distressed.

Troubled, Hiccup pushed his door open and slipped down the stairs, his slight weight not making a noise as he made his way to the ground floor. Someone had lit a fire, which gave off just enough light that Hiccup didn't trip or stumble as he crept closer to the crowd of six or seven adults standing around his dinner table, all looking pale and upset. Stoick was there too, sitting in a chair with Gobber by his side, patting his back with a comforting hand. Despite the talking earlier, things were now silent. A heavy quiet that made it hard for Hiccup to breathe.

"Dad?" Hiccup said cautiously, breaking that silence. Almost immediately, the attention of every adult in the room except for his father centered on him, and Hiccup wondered for a moment if he'd done something else wrong to warrant the panicked looked that crossed every face that was now staring at him.

"Hiccup!" Gobber said, alarmed. Something _was_ wrong. Gobber never got upset or frustrated even when everyone else did. And yet, now Gobber was hobbling towards him, a meaty hand grabbing his boney shoulder to steer him back to the stairs. "Ya shouldn't be up right now, lad. Go back to bed now, like a good little Viking." There wasn't much Hiccup could do with Gobber easily pushing him back the way he came, but Hiccup turned and gave his father one last confused glance, wondering why Stoick hadn't said anything to him even when Hiccup called for him. Stoick still didn't seem to notice though, his eyes focused on something on the table. Tilting his head, Hiccup got a glance of the thing his father was staring at and felt his own eyes go wide. Before Gobber even knew what had happened, Hiccup's tiny frame dodged and sprinted past him to head back to the table. "Hiccup-!"

"That's Mom's!" Hiccup exclaimed, pulling himself up onto the tips of his toes to look at the battered armor laying woebegone on the table. It was mostly just pieces, with the chest part being the biggest remaining part. Hiccup knew the armor well, the dings and scratches and the way that it felt when he hugged his mother goodbye before she left. Confused, Hiccup turned to the other adults in the room. "What happened? Why is Mom's stuff here? Where's Mom?" The silence came back to greet Hiccup's question, heavier and more suffocating then before and Hiccup didn't understand it at all. Why was the armor on the table, and not on his mom like it was supposed to be? That was all he wanted to know. Why wasn't anyone telling him that. Frowning, Hiccup turned to his father to repeat the question. "Dad-"

That was as far as Hiccup got before the breath froze in his throat.

Hiccup didn't feel himself slide back down to stand on his feet properly, or notice the uncomfortable glances the other grownups in the room were giving each other as the silence went on, uninterrupted by the curious little boy. All he saw in that moment was Stoick's face, and the sight of it made Hiccup feel a pain he never imagined was possible. Slowly, almost frightened, Hiccup reached out to touch his father's hand with his own much smaller on, his eyes never leaving Stoick's face.

"Dad…?" Hiccup had barely whispered, but Stoick finally seemed to hear him, perhaps because of the touch. His eyes finally left the shattered breastplate sitting on his table to rest on his son's face, and the pain Hiccup felt intensified by a hundred.

Stoick didn't say a word to reassure Hiccup, or explain to him what was going on. Pulling himself out of his chair, the giant chief of the Hooligan Clan fell to his knees in front of his only child, taking the boy into his arms to hold him close. Hiccup's head ended up tucked under Stoick's chin, his father's beard scratching and tickling at his face as the boy just sat there, confused and frightened and in pain and with no idea what he was supposed to do.

And for as long as he lived, Hiccup would never, ever forget that night.

It was the only time in his life he'd ever seen his father cry.


	5. Mean

**Mean**

She didn't know why it was bothering her so much.

But it was.

"Do you think I'm mean?" Hiccup faltered for a moment halfway through closing his door, startled by Astrid's sudden appearance. In all fairness, Astrid had pretty much jumped the boy as soon as he left his house, but Astrid wasn't really that concerned with being fair at the moment.

"Hello to you too, Astrid." Hiccup said dryly as he finished closing the door behind him. Astrid frowned, a little anxious that Hiccup hadn't answered her question.

"Do you think I'm mean?" She repeated, taking a firm stance to stop Hiccup from going anywhere until he answered.

"Is this about what Fishlegs said the other day in the cave? You're still upset about that?" Hiccup looked a little baffled, like it hadn't occurred to him that Astrid could be self-conscious about the opinions that the others had about her.

"I'm not upset!" Astrid scowled. It wasn't a total lie. Okay, it did bother her a little that Fishlegs had said that, and that Snotlout had more or less backed it up, but whatever. Fishlegs was a dweeby coward, and Snotlout a brainless slug.

But what if Hiccup thought she was mean?

Hiccup seemed to sense that Astrid was more serious then he first thought, since he gave her a long look for a moment before sighing heavily.

"You're not mean, Astrid." Hiccup said plainly. Astrid frowned, unconvinced.

"You're just saying that." She accused the brunet irritably. "You're probably worried I'll hit you if you tell me the truth." Because that was just it, wasn't it? The more Astrid thought about it, the more she realized that she could be pretty mean.

"_No_ I'm _not_." Hiccup said, sounding exasperated.

"**_Yes_** you **_are_**." Astrid shot back, glaring as she fought the urge to hit Hiccup for lying to her. Of course he thought she was mean. He had to, since apparently everyone else did. And he had more right than anyone to think she was mean, with the way she had developed the habit of pushing him around for no reason other than the fact that she kinda liked him and didn't want to say that because that was _weird_ and _what else was she supposed to do with these feelings?!_

But more than her being mean, the fact that he would lie to her about it really pissed Astrid off. If he just came out and said she was mean to him then yeah, okay, fine. She could work on fixing that and become a better friend. But lying? Thinking that she wasn't strong enough to handle the truth?! That really made Astrid mad.

"For the love of- _You're not mean_!" Hiccup repeated himself, his annoyance dissolving into something resembling real anger. Astrid scowled at him before turning to storm away.

That's when Hiccup exploded.

"You want to know what mean is, Astrid?!" Hiccup demanded hotly, clearly beyond fed up with the conversation. "Mean is making fun of someone for something they can't help, like being smaller than everyone else or not being strong or coordinated or right-handed! Mean is telling someone they're not cool enough to sit with you, or that they're a loser and a screw-up! Mean is taking someone else's stuff when they're using it, or ruining something they spent days or weeks working on just because you think it'd be funny! Mean is telling someone that they should've never been born, or that they should just do everyone a favor and get themselves eaten by a dragon!" Stunned, Astrid froze in place at Hiccup's incensed speech, suddenly feeling very small and petty.

No one talked much about the days before Hiccup was a hero anymore, least of all Hiccup himself. When he'd first started getting noticed, Astrid had thought that Hiccup's sudden rise in popularity had made him forget all about the things the other Vikings had said and done to him when he was a pariah and that he was soaking up all the attention he now had from the clan. Then, after getting to know him a little better, Astrid assumed he'd just forgiven and forgotten, as Hiccup was far too nice for his own good. She never for a second thought that it would still be there, bothering him and haunting him even now.

Meekly, Astrid turned back to look at Hiccup again, seeing how serious his green eyes were as they regarded her. He'd calmed down now, but there was still something lingering in his face, a pain that had always been carefully hidden and played down as much as possible, which Astrid only just noticed.

"You're not mean, Astrid." Hiccup repeated again, and this time Astrid finally believed that he honestly meant it. "You're blunt, and honest and you don't take any crap from anyone. You do your best at everything you do and expect others to commit themselves just as much. You hate people who lie and trick and steal instead of doing things the right way. You can be competitive and scary and aggressive sometimes, but you're not mean. Trust me, I _know_ mean."

Astrid didn't really know how to respond to that, other than blushing violently and averting her eyes away from Hiccup. After taking a second to gather her courage, Astrid stepped forward and buried her hands into Hiccup's vest, yanking the shorter boy forward to kiss him full on the lips. As usual, Hiccup was surprised by Astrid's sudden assault. Unlike the previous kisses the two had shared, though, Astrid lingered this time instead of breaking it off, until Hiccup cautiously began kissing her back.

When the two finally parted, Hiccup stared at Astrid in some sort of awed delight for a moment as the blonde fidgeted and panicked at the swirl of emotions she was feeling.

"I… um… bye." The brave, no-nonsense warrior finally mumbled out before fleeing from Hiccup like a troll was on her tail.

She still didn't feel like she wasn't mean. After all, she _knew_ about the abuse Hiccup suffered while he was living through it and hadn't done a thing to stop it. Maybe she hadn't actively taunted him like the others, but doing nothing was just as bad. Worse, because she knew that the others were being idiots, but hadn't cared since she figured that if Hiccup didn't have the backbone to stand up to them himself, then he wasn't worth her effort to defend.

She had written him off as a coward and a wimp, and it had taken him standing up to her about Toothless to realize how wrong she was. That night, she finally saw Hiccup for the first time, and she hadn't been able to close her eyes to that ever again. Just because she wasn't an idiot who couldn't admit when they messed up didn't make Astrid a nice person. But it made her really, REALLY happy that Hiccup didn't see her that way.

Besides, her dork was nice enough for the both of them. Plus some.


	6. Four by Four

_Ferosianin__ja gave me the challenge of writing a fic about Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the Twins encountering a Snaptrapper. I don't think this is quite that they had in mind, but it was the best I could come up with. Enjoy!_

**Four by Four**

"Um, can someone tell me why we're doing this again?" Fishlegs whimpered, looking around them nervously. Everything about this screamed 'BAD IDEA' like an angry Thunderdrum, and the large, timid Viking was getting more and more anxious by the second.

"Oh come on!" Snotlout scoffed. "Don't you wanna do something and NOT have Hiccup take all the credit for once? Think of how much everyone's gonna love us when we bring all this chocolate back to Berk!"

"If. If we get back. Which we won't if we can't figure out where Berk is, which we _can't _because_ we're lost_." Fishlegs reminded them, wishing once more that Hiccup or Astrid were there. Oh what he'd give for someone with a brain…

"Whatever. At least we got plenty to eat." Ruffnut snickered as she snuck another sweet out of the bag she was carrying.

"Hey!" Tuffnut whined. "I wanted that one!"

"So what, Dungbrain?"

"Come over here and say that to my face, Dragonbutt!" Fishlegs sighed heavily as both of the Thorston twins dropped their bags and began brawling right in the middle of the forest, once again wondering how he'd gotten himself dragged into this mess.

Sneaking off to get chocolate from Trader Johann was one thing, but taking a shortcut through the forest to take their quarry back to Berk? And then, to make matters worse, the ever brilliant Snotlout had made them leave their dragons behind in the village, so Hiccup wouldn't be able to follow them if he figured out they were missing.

_We're gonna die out here in the middle of nowhere. _Fishlegs thought with a whimper. He just hoped his mom would take care of Meatlug for him once he was gone. Hopefully, she'd remember that she liked when someone scratched her between her toes…

While Fishlegs was pondering this, a low, dangerous growl came from somewhere in the forest around them, making the boy freeze as his heart leapt up to his throat.

"Um, did you guys hear that?" Fishlegs squeaked, eyes darting left and right to try and discover the source of the noise. Ruffnut paused in the middle of hitting Tuffnut- who she had in a headlock- with the boot she's wrenched off of his right foot as Snotlout frowned and turned the map he was holding upside down for the third time in the last half hour.

"Uh, no." Snotlout scoffed dismissively. He looked like he was about to say something else, when the growling noise came again, louder and closer this time. Immediately, Ruffnut dropped her brother as all four young Vikings crowded close together, looking anxiously into the darkened forest around them as they drew their weapons.

"Told you." Fishlegs muttered, feeling vindicated despite his fear. Snotlout elbowed him in the stomach in response, making the larger boy grunt in pain.

"Anyone else kinda wish we brought our dragons with us?" Tuffnut asked, tightening his grip on his knife.

"Che. I don't need a dragon to take care of some stupid growling thing." Snotlout insisted arrogantly, stepping away from the group. Fishlegs cringed when the boy raised his voice to shout into the forest around them. "Hey! You wanna fight? Well come out here and face me, mano a mano!" As Snotlout's challenge echoed loudly through the forest, the growling immediately fell silent. Turning back to the others, Snotlout flashed a smug grin. "Yeah, that's what I thought. See? You just gotta show these things who's boss."

That was when four long, serpentine heads all shot out from the nearby shadows, jaws snapping at the four Viking teens who all screamed loudly in response before fleeing in the opposite direction.

"Yeah, you really showed him who's boss!" Tuffnut snapped sarcastically at the dark-haired boy when Snotlout overtook him.

"Shut up and run!" Snotlout screamed back.

"Guys!" Fishlegs shouted shrilly from the rear, where he was struggling to keep up with the other three. "It's gaining on us!" Unfortunately, this quickly became a less pressing issue when four more dragon heads erupted from the trees in front of Snotlout, cutting off their escape and nearly taking off the brunet's head.

"There!" Ruffnut shouted, pointing to a small opening in the mountain not far away. Without any further prompting, all four teens raced for the gap, diving inside for shelter from the dragons. The cave entrance was so small that Fishlegs had to suck in his gut to get in, but it offered them the protection they needed, and that was more than good enough for the Vikings.

"What _were_ those things?!" Tuffnut demanded.

"Snaptrappers." Fishlegs responded automatically. "Four-headed Dragons that lure Vikings into traps, then devour them."

"Sick." Ruffnut said, though she sounded impressed. "So it's kinda like our Zippleback?"

"Blah blah blah who cares!" Snotlout snapped. "Why the heck did it attack us?! We didn't _do_ anything!"

"It might've been because of the chocolate." Fishlegs theorized. "Snaptrappers use the smell of chocolate to lure its prey. Maybe they smelled the chocolate we were carrying and thought we were a new Snaptrapper hunting in their territory?"

"So we ditch the chocolate, we ditch the dragons." Tuffnut reasoned, tossing the bags he was carrying. Ruffnut quickly followed suit, but Snotlout looked outraged at the suggestion.

"But I traded three of my best swords for this stuff!" Snotlout whined, hugging his bag close. The others gave him hard looks until finally the boy caved. Grumbling, Snotlout reluctantly shed his treasures as well.

"Okay, so now what?"

"Run?" Suggested Fishlegs, feeling a little out of his depth. He didn't know how Hiccup could do this leading stuff, it was a lot of pressure.

"Okay, so run." Snotlout prompted impatiently, reminding Fishlegs that he was blocking the entrance. Which meant he would have to be the first one out of the cave. Once again, Fishlegs really, REALLY wished Hiccup had come along with them. He was small enough that he probably could've squeezed around Fishlegs and gone first.

Whimpering slightly, Fishlegs poked his head out of the cave, peeking around to find that the coast was clear. There were no signs of either dragon in the immediate area, but the smell of chocolate still perfumed the air, so they were probably still close by. He'd have to move slowly and carefully, to avoid drawing attention to himself and agitating the dragons.

Or he could fall out flailing and screaming when someone gave him a hard push from behind.

"That wasn't funny!" Fishlegs snapped as he pushed himself off the ground, turning around to glare at the three cackling Vikings behind him. He was a little sour that he didn't even have a clear guess over which one of them had pushed him, since any one of them would have.

"Yes it was." Tuffnut snickered. "Anyways, I dunno what you're so scared about. The dragons are gone, see?" Fishlegs was about to reply to this when a roar cut through the air and a head snapped out, almost grabbing Snotlout before he jumped out of the way.

"Does that look gone to you?!" Fishlegs demanded as he scrambled to his feet. The four teens started making their way back to the cave, but a bolt of fire shot by above their heads, hitting the cliff wall and causing an avalanche of rocks that blocked their sanctuary. Slowly, with a growing feeling of dread, Fishlegs turned and looked up at the two four headed dragons growling down at him and his friends as the Vikings crowded together once more.

"Uh, not that I'm worried, but… does anyone have any ideas?" Snotlout asked shakily.

"Well, Snaptrappers are supposed to like rain and mud." Fishlegs offered meekly as he backed away from the dragons that were slowly herding them towards the mountain

"Oh, THAT makes me feel better!" Snotlout snapped. "What a relief! All we have to do is make it rain!"

"You don't have to sound so hostile about it, you know…"

"Hey Tuffnut, remember that time we were flying home, and we forgot about that rope?" Ruffnut asked suddenly. At first, Tuffnut looked surprised at his sister's words, but then his eyes lit up and he grinned widely at his twin.

"Oh yeah!" Tuffnut chuckled, making Snotlout groan.

"Oh great, we're about to get eaten by four headed dragons and they're thinking about the good old days." Snotlout complained, more to himself then to Fishlegs. The twins ignored him though, and instead ran forward to face the dragons head on.

Each twin took on a different Dragon, Ruffnut going to the left and Tuffnut the right. When the four headed reptiles snapped forward to try and bite either of them, the twins dodged deftly, eventually making their way to the creatures' underbellies.

"What are they doing?" Snotlout demanded, looking baffled at the twins' actions. Fishlegs paid more attention to the dragons, though, and was surprised at how effective the twins' strategy was.

"By getting underneath them, the twins are a lot more protected from the dragons." Fishlegs realized, with no small amount of surprise as he watched the Snaptrappers lumber around awkwardly to try and reach either one of the twins. "Most of the danger that the Snaptrapper presents is in the claws and the heads, which can strike almost anywhere due to their long necks, but there's no way the heads can get at something that's under their bodies."

As Fishlegs finished explaining this, Ruffnut and Tuffnut wormed their way out unseen past the Snaptrappers' tails. Tuffnut then proceeded to pull a length of rope out of his bag, tossing one end to his sister. The movement caught the eye of the Snaptrappers, who quickly focused on the twins again with angry hisses. Unperturbed, the Thorston twins each bellowed out a war cry as they ran forward, fearless as the eight heads shot forward to attack. Stunned, Snotlout and Fishlegs watched with gaping mouths as the twins looped and jumped and scrambled around like half crazed monkeys, rope trailing along after them and eventually getting both of the dragons so tangled together that neither could even hope to possibly move.

"That… that was brilliant." Fishlegs said, feeling a little confused as he watched Ruffnut and Tuffnut celebrate their victory by knocking their helmets together. The twins never did anything smart before. Ever.

"Yeah." Tuffnut snickered. "Just because these things have more heads then us, doesn't make them smarterer."

There. That was _entirely _Fishlegs' point right there.

"Besides, we accidentally got Barf and Belch all tied up in a rope a few weeks back. It took us hours to undo it." Ruffnut added.

"Yeah great, woo-hoo dragon down! _Can we __**go**__ now?!_" Snotlout demanded irritably, looking nervous as the dragons growled and fought to free themselves from their bonds. Realizing that they had better make their escape while they could, the four young Vikings ran off, leaving the Snaptrappers behind.

Four hours later, the tried, hungry and dirty group finally made their way back to the village, where they were greeted by Astrid and Hiccup.

"What happened to you guys?" Hiccup asked, concern warring with revulsion as he took in their appearances.

"Don't ask." Fishlegs moaned. He was never going to listen to anything Snotlout said ever again. Ever.

"Well where have you four been all day?" Astrid inquired instead. "You missed all the excitement! Hiccup and I found a couple of Snaptrappers all tied up about an hour ago when we were flying. Hiccup managed to calm them down with some dragonnip as I cut them free. They was so grateful that before they flew off, they led us to this cave full of chocolate! Enough for the entire village! Isn't that great?" All four teens stilled at this news, and Snotlout's jaw almost hit the ground when one of the younger villagers came darting around to throw her arms around Hiccup's waist, grinning up at the brunet with chubby cheeks, missing teeth and chocolate stains.

"Thank you, Hiccup!" She said sweetly before running off to join her friends in partaking in more of the sweet treat. Sighing, Fishlegs quickly scurried off to find Meatlug as Snotlout began making indignant choking noises and turning an ugly shade or red, once again mentally promising that he'd never go on any group expeditions without Astrid or Hiccup.


	7. Four Letter Word

**Four Letter Word**

Svana the Sweet was often hailed as the epitome of feminine charm and grace. Pretty and calm, the woman was the best chef on Berk, as well as the one responsible for brewing mead. Indeed, most men on the island had been smitten with her at some point.

Until it was discovered that Svana could never have children.

Svana had been absolutely crushed when Gothi had given her the news, convinced that she would die alone and without a husband or a child. To her never-ending surprise and delight, though, this didn't end up being the case. After a brief courtship, Arvid Hofferson asked her to be his wife at the age of twenty eight, and Svana happily accepted.

Arvid was a wonderful, brave Viking and one of the best hunters in the village. Unfortunately, he'd lost his wife a year earlier, leaving him a widower with a son on the cusps of adulthood and a young daughter. It was for them that Arvid remarried, and Svana had no problem with this. After all, if she could not have children of her own, then the least she could do was try to be a mother to children who had lost theirs. Arvid's son Andren understood this and accepted Svana.

Little Astrid, on the other hand, did not.

The young blonde was wildly stubborn and absolutely convinced that she was right about everything. She also decided that she hated Svana and everything she stood for from the day the two first met, and nothing Svana tried could change her mind. And oh, did Svana try…

Unfortunately, Svana wasn't a strong, intelligent, brave woman who died protecting her daughter, like the one Astrid admired so much was. She had always stepped back and played a supporting role when battles were raging, instead of being front and center with the warriors. Most people didn't mind this, but Astrid clearly thought less of her for not having the strength and courage to defend Berk like her mother did. After ten years of reaching out only to have Astrid push her away, Svana had virtually given up hope of Astrid ever seeing her as anything other than a step-mother.

Then one day, she came home to find the blonde sitting at the kitchen table, stabbing a knife repeatedly into the wood as she stared mutely at a wall.

"Astrid?" Svana wasn't especially happy at seeing her innocent table being mutilated, but held her tongue since she knew that trying to make Astrid see her as an authority figure was almost useless. "Are you alright?" The blonde teen had been getting broodier and more quiet lately, which Svana figured was mostly due to her age, but now Astrid looked as though she was honestly upset.

"Fine." Astrid replied, in a tone that said she was anything but.

"Are you sure?" Svana pressed as she set her basket on the table, gently placing a hand over the one that was gripping Astrid's knife. "I'm can help, if you need to talk to someone." At first, Astrid's expression soured at Svana's words, but then the blonde turned and considered her for a long moment, her face softening into a look of contemplation.

"…holuthm." She finally mumbled out, speaking more to the table then Svana. The woman blinked a bit in surprise, a little taken aback that Astrid hadn't brushed her off as usual.

"I'm sorry?" She asked, praying Astrid would repeat herself a little more clearly. Sighing through her nose, Astrid lifted her head and gave Svana a glare, a blush staining her cheeks.

"How do you tell someone you love them?" She asked, looking as though she wanted to die right there on the spot. Svana stared for a moment, completely thrown by the question.

Oh.

…OH!

"Is this about Hiccup?" Svana asked, smiling a little. It was fantastic to see her step-daughter finally opening up to her, and about her quasi-relationship with the boy who saved Berk no less.

"Could you please just answer the question!" Astrid hissed back, looking utterly humiliated.

"Well, I guess it really depends on a lot of different things, really. First of all, do you _really_ love them?"

"Would we be having this conversation if I didn't?" Astrid asked scornfully. Svana had to concede that point to the girl, but still felt a need to get her own point across.

"Love isn't just about finding someone different or exciting, Astrid. Those kinds of feelings fade fast. It has to be something truly meaningful if you are serious about it." Astrid rolled her eyes at that, but her scowl seemed to lessen a bit.

"Then fine. Yeah." She replied curtly.

"Has he told you that he loves you?" Svana asked, smiling when Astrid turned a brilliant shade of red and started picking at her braid.

"…Yes." She muttered, so low that Svana almost didn't catch it.

"Is he pressuring you to say it back, or making you feel like you have to?"

"NO!" Astrid said, much more aggressively as she scowled at Svana. "He just- He just told me one night after we were flying, before he went home!"

"Are you scared to tell him, then?"

"I'm not scared!" Astrid insisted hotly, glaring at Svana for daring to suggest such a thing. "I just… don't know how to get the words out in the right order. I mean, I the first time I tried to say it, I ended up telling him I love ewes. Then the second time I just babbled on about how I love flying. And by the tenth time I tried, I just told him that I shoved him!" Svana bit down hard on the inside of her mouth to keep from laughing at that. Astrid was clearly distraught, and laughing at her humiliation wasn't going to help her feel any better.

"Astrid, did it ever occur to you that you don't have to tell Hiccup that you love him?" Svana pointed out gently.

"But I do!" Astrid insisted.

"No you don't." Svana insisted. "Even if you feel that way, you don't have to use those words exactly if you're not comfortable saying them. You can show your love through your actions, through other methods. And with a little time and patience, some day you will feel better about saying those words to Hiccup himself. It's okay to wait, Astrid. It'll make the words much more sincere and meaningful if you say them when you mean them, and not just because you want to." Astrid frowned a little at Svana's words, but it wasn't hostile or angry. Instead, it was thoughtful, and Svana could see the blonde was turning her words around in her head.

Before Astrid could say anything else, though, there was a small knock on the door, which was then hesitantly pushed open to reveal Hiccup himself. The boy glanced between the two women quickly, and a look of confusion passed his face before he settled his gaze on the blonde.

"Uh, hey Astrid." He said a little awkwardly, a slight wariness in his tone which was not dissimilar from someone who was about to try and waken a sleeping Nightmare. "I just wanted to see if you and Stormfly wanted to go flying. You kinda left in a hurry earlier, and well, there's kinda this thing I wanna show you- but only if you want to!" The hand underneath Svana relaxed as Hiccup babbled awkwardly at the blonde, a slight smile stealing across Astrid's face which she didn't bother trying to hide.

"Yeah. Sure. That sounds great. I love flying." Astrid responded, pulling away from Svana and standing up to meet Hiccup at the door. Astrid hesitated a moment before leaving though and, just when Svana was about to ask her what was wrong, the blonde teen turned to her with a hesitant look, biting er lip for a second before giving Svana a respectful nod. "And… thanks, by the way."

Svana's heart soared as Astrid closed the door behind her, a smile threatening to tear her face into two. Standing up, Svana made her way over to the window to watch the teens make their way towards the lean-to where Astrid's Nadder was housed, her smile widening as Astrid reached across the distance between her and Hiccup to take the brunet's hand in her own, causing Hiccup to stumble a bit before catching himself.

For the first time in her life, Svana truly felt like a mother.


	8. Slave of Love

Ferdoos asked for a drabble featuring Astrid and Hiccup's first date. This is the only thing that came to mind that wasn't completely stupid.

**Slave of Love**

This wasn't at all how he'd expected the night to turn out.

When he had first suggested the idea to Astrid, he had envisioned a quiet night or romance, just the two of them. And yeah, okay, it had kinda started out that way with the flight there and a picnic on the beach under the stars, and it had gotten even better when Astrid suggested they leave the dragons to rest on the beach and take a walk through the forest together. But then it had taken a turn into an uglier direction.

"I wonder how many other couples end up as prisoners on their first date?" Hiccup asked Astrid dryly, feeling a bit put out at having his evening with the girl he loved so completely ruined. Astrid scoffed and threw a dirty look at the ugly, gape-toothed man who was leading the yaks that were pulling the caged cart the two teens had been thrown into towards destinations unknown. He was too busy laughing and talking to his companion to notice, but Astrid took a moment to memorize his features so she could give him the beating he so richly deserved for giving her date a black eye. As far as the blonde was concerned, she was the only one who had the right to beat up on Hiccup, and that was justified with how crazy the Dragon Trainer made her.

"Dunno. I do know that we wouldn't be in that statistic if you hadn't made me leave my axe behind, though. Now hold still, I'm almost through."

"How was I supposed to know this place was inhabited by Lava Louts?" Hiccup asked with a grimace as Astrid finished cutting through the ropes around their hands.

"Any sign of your dragon yet?" Astrid asked with a sigh rather than arguing any further.

"Toothless has been following us from the forest for the last ten minutes, but staying hidden in the shadows. He won't move until I give the order. Stormfly?"

"She's been trailing us from the sky and staying hidden in the clouds. Wanna order the attack so we can get back to our date now?" Astrid inquired, already itching to get her hands on Ugly.

"Actually, do you mind waiting a bit?" Hiccup asked. When Astrid raised an eyebrow at him, Hiccup added. "Lava Louts are slave traders, and that's probably what they wanna do to us, but they're not great at fighting Dragons and there's a nesting spot not far from here where baby dragons hatch. A couple of dragon calls once we get into the settlement, and the Dragons will come and tear the place apart and free all the other people the Lava Louts have enslaved."

"That seems like fair retribution for trying to capture us." Astrid agreed with a wry smile. "And it'll give you time to think of a way to make this up to me on our next date."

"I still feel that this isn't completely my fault." Hiccup said, though he brightened a bit at the casual remark about future dates, despite the fact that this one had gotten them captured by slavers.

"Just keep telling yourself that, Hiccup."


	9. Flyer's Training

Camille Frost gave me the prompt of 'Hiccup taking his son/daughter out flying for the first time' (At least, I think that's what the prompt was. Sorry if I got it wrong, my Spanish is a little rusty after ten years of disuse! DX) So this one's for her. Hope you enjoy it!

**Flyer's Training**

Ever since I could talk, I would beg to go flying. Uncle Snotlout even told me before that 'fly' was my first word, and mom had just rolled her eyes and muttered something about me being dad's kid when I said it. Even after I got a bigger vocabulary, I would still ask dad to take my flying with him at least once a day. Every day, my dad would laugh nervously and tell me to wait until I was a little older as my mom glared warningly at both of us. Eventually, I started to suspect that no matter how old I got, it would never be old enough to go flying.

Then, on the day of my tenth birthday, I woke up and came down to find brand new riding gear laid out for me on the table.

"We aren't going to do much today." Dad warned me as I thanked him and mom up and down and hugged them both as hard as I could. "Just the basic riding form, and getting you used to being in the air. No crazy stunts, okay?"

It was more than fine with me. Even before getting on the dragon's back, I was already floating in the clouds. Dad tried to keep a straight face as he saddled up Toothless, but I could tell he was smiling under his beard, that weird little quirk of the mouth that was a little higher on the left side then the right, just like mine.

"We'll just do a lap around the island for now." Dad told me as I climbed on Toothless' back. Ever since I was little, I would sit on the dragon and pretend to be flying, and now I was finally going to take to the air. "You'll control Toothless' tailfin, but I have a backup pedal that'll override yours if necessary."

"It won't be," I assured my father as he climbed on the Dragon behind me and attacked his fake leg to the pedal he'd mentioned. "Flying's in my blood."

"Better hope so," Dad said dryly as Toothless opened his wings. "Otherwise it's my blood your mother's gonna be after if you get hurt." I grinned at that as Toothless' muscles tensed underneath us. It didn't matter what kind of enemies my father faced, or what accomplishments he achieved, my mother would always be the one thing my dad feared and respected more than anything else.

I was about to say something else when Toothless, impatient to fly, suddenly sprang up. He didn't go at full speed, but it was still a lot faster than I was expecting, and it left me off-balance and panicking as I scrambled to adjust my grip on the saddle, which was difficult with the awkward and unsteady gait of the dragon's flight.

"Open up the tailfin a little wider." Dad shouted to me, sounding almost bored despite my confusion and panic. I immediately slammed my foot all the way down in response, which only seemed to make things worse and sent us plummeting to the ground. "Too much. Ease back a little." Breathing as deeply as I could with the wind whipping past me at breakneck speeds, I cautiously lifted my foot up a little until Toothless' flight evened out. "There, see. That's not so hard."

"Easy for you to say." I shot back, suddenly a lot less confident in my flying abilities. There was no way I'd be able to control Toothless without Dad telling me what to do.

"You'll get better." Dad promised me with a smile. "You should've seen the first time I tried to fly. Now are you going to quit freaking out long enough to take a good look around you? Dunno if your mom's gonna let me take you back up here again anytime soon, after all…" A little hesitantly, I looked down at that, my eyes going wide at the sight of Berk floating past me far below.

"Whoa…" I breathed, a little awestruck at the sight. It was hard to believe that the small, peaceful island so far beneath me was my home. It was even harder to imagine it like the elders would describe it before my father defeated the Red Death, without dragons or flying or the harmony that had existed since before I was born. And even though I'd always been really proud of my dad, it wasn't until that moment that it really hit me what he had done, what he had left for me and everyone else on Berk.

And suddenly, I was all too aware of what big shoes I'd have to someday try and fill.

"Okay, we got coasting down." Dad told me, oblivious to my sudden epiphany. "Now let's try cornering. You're going to have to feel Toothless' movements and close and open the tailfin at just the right rhythm, or else we're gonna lose altitude and end up drowning in the ocean and your mother's gonna drag my corpse from the bottom of the sea to murder me. Ready?" Breathing deep, I tried to push back how intimidated I suddenly felt of my father and the legacy he had left behind. Gripping the saddle tightly, I turned forward with determined eyes, trying to mask my uncertainty as I answered his question.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"In other words, no." Dad translated with a chuckle before reaching forward to tousle my hair. "Don't worry, kid. No one's ever ready when the have to step up and do something new for the first time. But the more you work at something, the better you'll get and the less scary it becomes." Not for the first time, I wondered if my dad could read minds or something. He was always scary intuitive about what I needed to hear. Still I had an image to maintain, so it was probably better to pretend I wasn't as worried as I was. Besides, I was ten now, and ten year olds don't DO mushy.

"We're Vikings, Dad. Vikings don't get scared."

"Except of spiders."

"That thing was almost as big as Toothless! Besides, I didn't see you running over to kill it either. _Mom_ took care of it."

"Don't exaggerate, kid. It was barely bigger than a Terror. And anyways, I've already lost one limb doing battle with oversized monsters. I'd like to keep the ones I have left, if that's alright with you. Now are you gonna quit stalling, or are we gonna do this before I realize that I'm an idiot for letting a ten year old drive?" I grinned a little at that, feeling better at Dad being so… Dad.

"Fine. But you better be prepared to start calling me the new Dragon Master of Berk."

"Fair enough. Now show me what you got, Dragon Master." Grinning even wider, I leaned forward, suddenly a lot less scared of screwing up.

Dad was there to help me, after all. And big shoes or not, I was definitely proud to be the kid of Hiccup the Useful.


	10. Gracious Loser

**Gracious Loser**

There was a time when Astrid was very lonely, and very much alone.

See, when Astrid was a child, she didn't have any other friends her age. Back then, Snotlout was convinced girls were gross and stupid and used to make fun of her whenever he saw her. Fishlegs was alright, but since he was a boy, Snotlout used to bully him around a lot and tell him that if he talked to Astrid, he'd become girly and wimpier then he already was. Terrified, Fishlegs immediately stopped talking to her, and didn't start again until they were twelve. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut both mainly hung out with each other. Sometimes if the boys and girls had to separate, then Astrid would spend time with Ruffnut. The girl was alright in small doses, but she wasn't the brightest torch in the village and she'd always whine about how Astrid was too bossy. Whenever the girls weren't forced to spend time with one another, Ruffnut would go right back to her brother's side and Astrid would be alone again.

Then there was Hiccup.

Technically, Hiccup had always been there. He was just kept under lock and key by his father almost 24/7, and she only ever saw him when there was a big feast, fidgeting at his father's side. Hiccup was tiny for a boy, smaller then her even, and he spent most of his time sitting quietly with his head down instead of loudly wrestling like Snotlout and Tuffnut. Snotlout insisted he was a loser, but Astrid didn't put much faith in what Snotlout said. And at the age of four, Hiccup did something he had never done before, but which would eventually become a habit he'd never break.

Ignoring his father's orders, Hiccup left the house and snuck away.

"What are you doing here?" Astrid asked, frowning at the skinny little brunet when he jumped and whirled around to face her at her question, panic written all over his face. Astrid knew Hiccup wasn't supposed to be allowed outside, because he got sick easy and hurt himself a lot, and it made the chief worry.

"Nothing." Hiccup answered, quickly and completely unconvincingly. Astrid frown at him, but before she could say anything else, Hiccup glance down and saw what she had in her hands. "Are you playing swords?" Astrid bristled a bit at that phrase and glared at the boy who used it, her fist clenching around the handle of the wooden sword she held.

"I'm not playing!" Astrid snapped furiously, ears still ringing with Snotlout's laughing taunts about dumb little girls who play with swords. "I'm practicing!"

"Oh." Was all Hiccup said to that, Astrid frowned as he shuffled awkwardly from one foot to the other. What a weird kid… "Um, can I play, too?"

Astrid was so surprised by that question, she didn't even bother to remind Hiccup that she was practicing, not playing.

"…You wanna practice swords with me?" Whenever the others all practiced sword fighting, Astrid was usually left all alone because the twins would fight each other and Snotlout would beat up on Fishlegs. And whenever Astrid tried to get one of them to play with her instead, Snotlout would tell her that girls couldn't fight as well as boys, Fishlegs would shake his head violently without meeting her eye and the Twins would usually just keep fighting with one another and forget that she even asked. Only once did she get Snotlout to fight her. After she beat him, Snotlout had turned red as everyone else laughed at him. He then insisted he went easy on Astrid because she was a girl, and had never let her fight him again since.

"Well, if you want to." Hiccup assured quickly, looking cautiously hopeful when Astrid didn't reject the idea immediately.

"But you don't have a sword to use." Astrid reminded him. Hiccup frowned at Astrid's observation, glancing around for a second before lighting up when he spotted a long, relatively straight stick. Holding it up for Astrid's assessment, Hiccup gave a wide, slightly crooked grin when the girl nodded in approval, almost tripping over another stick as he hurried forward to stand in front of Astrid, who had already fallen into a fighting stance. Hiccup took a similar stance in front of her, before faltering for a second and grimacing as he passed the stick into his right hand instead. Astrid watched the change curiously, but didn't question Hiccup on it, instead tensing as she prepared to attack. "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready." Hiccup said, not sounding all that confident, but looking determined nonetheless. Giving a cry, Astrid jumped forward to bring her wooden sword down against Hiccup's stick. Her blow landed solidly, and though Hiccup's makeshift weapon did its best to block, it soon fell away from Hiccup's grip, landing on the ground a few feet away as Hiccup fell back. Astrid frowned, a little surprised at how easily she'd won. Skinny or now, Hiccup should've put up a better fight then that. He was the son of the chief, after all.

Astrid was pulled out of her musings on this subject as Hiccup sighed quietly, pushed himself back to his feet and brushed the dirt and dead leaves off of his clothes. Looking up, Hiccup met Astrid's eye, giving her a defeated sort of smile.

"Good job." He said, surprising Astrid yet again. She had been expecting some kind of excuse for his weak effort against her attack, like the sun being in his eyes or him going easy on her or not being ready or something. That's what all the boys did when they lost at swords, both to each other and especially to her. They never told the person who just beat them that they did a good job. Not unless a grown up stepped in and made them, anyways, but there weren't any grown ups here. Which meant that Hiccup just honestly meant it.

"Um… thanks?" Astrid said, a little confused. She wasn't used to someone her age saying stuff like that. But as far as changes went, this was a nice one. "Wanna go again?" Now it was Hiccup's turn to look surprised, before he grinned widely at Astrid's offer. Suddenly, it hit Astrid that maybe Hiccup was even lonelier then her, if he didn't even mind getting beat up by a girl so long as someone wanted him there to play with.

"Sure!" Hiccup exclaimed happily, retrieving his fallen stick. Astrid smiled a little as she fell into another stance. Before Hiccup could do the same, though, a voice boomed out over the trees, sending the birds into flight.

_"HICCUP!"_ Both children froze at the loud, angry sound of the voice of Stoick the Vast. _"HICCUP!"_ Shoulders falling, Hiccup let the stick fall from his fingers, flashing Astrid a weak smile.

"Um, actually, I gotta go. Dad's calling me." He said, as though Astrid hadn't already figured that out for herself. "Thanks for playing with me, though."

"Yeah, no problem." Astrid responded, fidgeting awkwardly. "Um… maybe we can do this again sometime?" Hiccup sucked as a sparring partner, but he was nice, and Astrid kinda liked that. She wouldn't mind spending more time with him. Hiccup's smile turned genuine at Astrid's question, but before he could answer, Stoick's voice boomed out again, closer this time.

**"****HICCUP!****"** Hiccup jumped a little, looking panicked at how angry Stoick was starting to sound.

"Gotta go. Thanks again!" The brunet said quickly, darting away without answering Astrid's question. Astrid didn't understand why she felt a little disappointed about that. Sighing, the little blonde turned back to the practice dummy she'd been training against before Hiccup had stumbled into her clearing, trying to put the odd incident behind her. After all, it was probably not very likely Hiccup would ever be allowed to come back.

Still, it was nice while he was here. Maybe they'd get to play together again someday…


	11. Viking Subtlety

**Viking Subtlety**

"Mornin', Son!"

"Hey Dad." Hiccup mumbled groggily as he limped towards his seat. Vaguely, he couldn't help but wonder why Stoick seemed like he was in such a good mood this morning. A healthy intolerance for any time earlier then noon was one of the few traits that Stoick and Hiccup actually shared, though Hiccup tended to be a little worse with mornings then his father since he spent most of his nights flying around with Toothless. Still, most mornings in the Haddock household were relatively silent, save for the occasional grunt of acknowledgement.

Had Hiccup been fully awake, this cheery greeting probably would've been his first warning of what was coming and he would've run when he still had the chance. Woefully, though, his brain was still in a low-power state and thus he sat down at the table, blissfully unaware of the torment that awaited him. Across the table, Stoick watched his son carefully over the rim of his mug as Hiccup began digging into his food.

"So, did you hear that Alrik and Ottilia got themselves hitched just yesterday?" Stoick asked mildly. Hiccup grunted in confirmation as he shoveled more food into his mouth. Berk was a pretty small island and virtually everyone knew each other, so Hiccup would've had to have been living under a rock not to know that the two pair had just married. "They've only been courting for about a year now, but they definitely seem happy together. How long have you and Astrid been together again, son?" Alarm bells blared to life in the back of Hiccup's skull, waking the boy up and putting him on high alert.

This had taken a dangerous drift out of small talk territory…

"Dunno." Hiccup answer warily. "About three or four years, I think. Officially."

"I see…" Stoick replied meaningfully, taking another swig of his drink. "And when exactly are you planning on taking the next step in your relationship?" Feeling as though he was about to walk into some sort of trap, Hiccup's flight of fight instincts sprang to life and, not surprisingly, the brunet teen chose flight.

Literally.

"You know, I don't think I'm that hungry this morning. I'm gonna do an early sweep of the island with Toothless. See you later, Dad." And, before Stoick could stop him, Hiccup bolted out the door to find his dragon.

The next day found Hiccup working in the smithy. He'd managed to avoid his father at home after the botched talk at breakfast, but didn't want to take the chances of any more awkward conversations springing up. The one he'd had when he started puberty was bad enough for ten lifetimes, as far as he was concerned. And thus, since staying at home had become something of a bad idea, Hiccup decided to try and work on some new designs he'd crafted for flying.

Unfortunately, Stoick knew his son better then Hiccup thought.

"Ah, Hiccup! There you are!" Icy dread filled Hiccup's blood at the cheerful sound of his father's voice. Reluctantly, the teen turned around to find Stoick grinning happily at him. Crap. "I was hoping you might be able to help me with something. See, my old bones just aren't feeling good today. Any chance you could help oversee the construction of the new fishing boat?"

"Old bones? Dad, just a few days ago you were wrestling with Thornado. And _winning_." Hiccup reminded Stoick, not buying his father's excuse for a second. Stoick's grin fell into a scowl at his son's observation.

"Oh come on now!" Stoick huffed, sounding injured. "There's no reason you can't go ahead and get a taste of what being chief is gonna be like now, is there?" Hiccup opened his mouth to remind Stoick that being chief was still his job, and kindly inform his father that he was in no rush to change that, when Stoick gave his son a pointed look. "I mean, you are gonna be leader of the tribe soon, son, and it's not like you're doing anything more important. Unless, that is, you DO have something better to do? With Astrid, perhaps?"

Hiccup was pretty sure that one legged men weren't supposed to move as fast as he just did.

"The new boat's being built by the harbor, right?" Hiccup asked quickly as he gathered his supplies. "Come on, Toothless, let's see what we can do to help. I'll see you later, Dad." Stoick scowled a bit as he watched the pair flee, before sighing begrudgingly and deciding to take his victories with Hiccup where he could.

At least he got him to start doing some chiefing, at the very least.

* * *

It wasn't going away.

"Hiccup! Don't you think that Ollitia looks lovely with her hustrulinet? Couldn't ya just imagine Astrid like that? All happy with that just married woman glow?"

It didn't matter where he hid.

"There you are, son! Is there any chance you could help me with a few duties that need to get done today? I could use a few extra hands and, well, mine are getting pretty old now."

It didn't matter where he ran.

"Really Hiccup, what on earth are ya doin' all the way out here? As future chief, Berk ought to be your main priority, don't you think? You've got better things to do then fly around with your head in the clouds all day!"

He.

"Hiccup! Did you hear? Hallmar just got engaged to that Malva girl? At sixteen! Awful big of him to be startin' a family now, don't ya think?"

Just.

"Well wouldja look at that son! Kristjana is expecting her firstborn! Isn't that nice? All this peace with the dragons, and everyone getting married and having children…"

Couldn't.

"Say Hiccup, don't you think that that spot there would make a lovely place for a new house? Just imagine; a stable for some dragons, a yard, a lovely little wife…"

Get.

"Oh no, Hiccup! Not today! Sorry, but Toothless is just gonna have to wait to go flying! Today, you're going hunting with me and the rest of the village men! It'll be good for you to learn a little more about the food we need to survive, and how we get it. That kind of information is important to the chief, you know."

Away.

"Been flyin' quite a bit lately, haven't ya Hiccup? Why don't you spend some time with Astrid? It's not good for you to be neglectin' the girl you love because of some silly dragon, you know!"

* * *

Glancing up from the book she'd been pressured into reading by Fishlegs, Astrid smiled as her boyfriend slumped onto the bench next to her with a tired groan.

"Hey there." Astrid said, closing the book and setting it next to her on the bench. "I haven't seen much of you all week. You haven't been seeing another girl behind my back, have you?" Hiccup groaned at the blonde's teasing. Astrid knew that Hiccup was as loyal as Berk's winters were long, so she wasn't actually concerned about the way Hiccup had been absent more often than not lately, though she was a little curious as to what had caused his most recent disappearing act.

"If I say yes, will you kill me and put me out of my misery?" Hiccup moaned, surprising Astrid a bit. Though she would joke about him possibly straying every now and again, he never joked back. Puzzled, Astrid shot Hiccup a curious look, which he ignored in favor of swiping her tankard and holding it up for inspection. "Is this strong?"

"Yes?" Astrid answered, a little confused. To her surprise, Hiccup immediately downed the entire mug at her confirmation, despite usually being careful when it came to alcohol. Astrid's eyes went wide as Hiccup slammed the empty mug on the table, then immediately flagged down the barmaid for another.

Well. THAT wasn't a good sign.

"Uh-oh. What happened now?" Astrid asked, turning her full attention to Hiccup and frowning in concern.

"Dad." Hiccup sighed, making Astrid's frown deepen.

"That doesn't really narrow it down, you know." Astrid reminded Hiccup gently. Though Hiccup's relationship with his father had improved vastly post-Red Death, there was still a lot of things the two didn't see eye to eye on. So far, though, none of that had ever drove Hiccup to drinking himself silly.

"He's been driving me crazy all week." Hiccup groaned as the barmaid snagged the mug he'd emptied and replaced it with a full one, which he proceeded to inhale the second he could.

"About what?" Astrid asked, growing more concerned by the minute. Before Hiccup could answer, the Great Hall doors swung open again and Stoick entered, Gobber at his side. Hiccup stiffened at the sight of his father, but Stoick looked unordinarily pleased, which only confused Astrid more. Stoick started to make his way over to their table, but Gobber, seeing the dark look on his apprentice's face, had the good sense to intervene and stop the chief before he could finish the trek.

"Now now, Stoick. Let the children be. We're supposed ta be drinkin tonight, remember?"

"They're not children anymore, Gobber." Stoick reminded his friend with a sour look, which only seemed to irritate Hiccup more. "And anyways, I just want to-!"

"Let it be, Stoick." Gobber sighed, shooting Hiccup and, oddly enough, Astrid herself a sympathetic look, which made the shieldmaiden wonder exactly what the heck she was missing.

"Well talking to Hiccup isn't getting me anywhere! I'm sure Astrid will be more reasonable."

"Reasonable about what?" Astrid asked, frowning at her boyfriend as he groaned and buried his face into his arm in the table. She'd never been asked to weigh in on the Haddock clan arguments before, so why was her opinion needed now?

"Just let it happen when it happens, Stoick. No need to rush these things." Gobber insisted as Hiccups ears began to burn a terrible shade of red. Astrid was starting to get annoyed at the way the three seemed to be ignoring her and talking like she wasn't even there, and was about to demand to know what was going on. Unfortunately for her- and Hiccup as well, for that matter- a frustrated Stoick snapped crankily at Gobber before she could say a word, his voice booming loudly around the Great Hall for all to hear.

"Of course there's a need to rush!" Stoick huffed, drawing the attention of every Viking present who wasn't already watching the exchange curiously. "I'm not gonna be around forever you know! I want grandbabies!"

And suddenly, Astrid really, really wished she could've been left in the dark as to the reason Hiccup was so frustrated with his father.

Shock was instantly replaced with horror when Astrid heard Ruffnut begin to cackle loudly at the table she was sharing with her brother and Fishlegs, the latter of the trio being the only one with the decency to shoot Hiccup and Astrid a sympathetic look. Unfortunately, this only served to make Astrid aware of all the _other_ looks she- the girlfriend of the chief's son and the most likely candidate for who would be providing Stoick the grandbabies he had just admitted he wanted- was getting in the crowded Great Hall as Hiccup groaned in dismay as dropped his head into his arm. Scattered whispers began breaking out everywhere all at once, and Astrid suddenly found herself hoping that a Whispering Death would break through the floor and swallow her whole right that very second.

"Hey Hiccup?" Astrid said faintly as Gobber finally managed to drag Stoick away, albeit far too late.

"Yeah?" Hiccup asked, his voice muffled by the leather of his gauntlet.

"Would you be offended if I ran out screaming right now?" She planned on doing it either way, but it'd be nice to know if she'd have to apologize for it later or not. That would probably involve putting herself in the vicinity of the chief, and Astrid kinda wanted to avoid being around Stoick until forever now, if she could help it.

"Not if I'm allowed to do the same." Hiccup replied with a scoff, reminding Astrid why she loved him so much and put up with all the insanity that came along with being involved with him.

She was still gonna kill him for this later, though.


End file.
